gabzor

Just a few questions, I might have had it in my other post, but that is more of an introductory post I have? This is all for a 2001 ES300 BTW

As far as spark plugs, are there spark plug wires? In the folder of receipts, I noticed "spark plug wires" in a receipt for labor... Don't these cars use just coil packs and a harness? maybe he changed the harness, since it does look newish

As far as the PCV valve goes, I noticed mine is metal like the ES330, when I thought these cars had plastic ones, could one of the previous owners have retrofitted a 4es es330/es300 valve cover in my current 1mzfe? Would I need to order pcv gasket/valve/valve cover gaskets from an 4es? Maybe the toyota dealer did it and the pcv is still original, noticed the car went in for sludging and got some sludge treatment back in 2006..

As far as the fuel filter, where is it? It's not in the location people say it is when I searched, on my 2es it was.. Unless its the thing I circled in red, or is it actually below the throttle body pipes?

JetsonES

A lot of modern cars have done away with fuel filters in the engine compartment. Most nowadays use an in tank filter mounted to the inlet of the fuel pump.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Figured that too back in the day. Got a plastic PCV from parts place, was metal, like on my old mans RX330.

Fuel Filter - ha, funny location, seems "open" prepare to have your hand in weird positions.

Open hood. Go to brake booster area. Look "under" the brake booster, you'll see the little canister - might have to look around both ends of brake booster, it's an "open" space when compared to other cramped areas. It's right there, held in with on 10mm i believe.

gabzor

Oh man, I hope ours is not close to the in take, so far I've gotten pretty lucky with cars, where they are still in the bay, (still a PITA).. The easiest ones were probably the ones under the rear seats



hmm so did you get a pcv for an es330?

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^ it would be that one, yes.

I never did get one however. I never had to change a PCV on a car... they never gave me issues and people think that changing these frequently seems to yield crazy benefits.

To each his own, if you're car is clean, running and no issues, no point in changing things unnecessarily. My old man's RX runs like a top, it has 205k km's on it. In it's lifespan since 70k, til now, I never changed it. It might have been cleaned once?

Same on my ES, if it ain't broke, I won't bother. Unfortunately, I "over fixed" my ES which is why it cost me so much over the years. Now I'm definitely changing the bare minimum on any vehicle I own, or my family [as I take care of maintenance things at home].

gabzor

figured i'd change my PCV valve every year, its good insurance lol and good peace of mind, and its like 10 bucks, but yeah I've found some people doing a new PCV valve on the 1mzfe every other or every oil change..

I noticed the 4ES es300 also has a metal pcv, so I guess i'll order one of those

The main reason is my mom does 100% city driving, I'm the only one who takes it on the highway once in a while

JetsonES

Also the way I view it, cheap insurance. The car is paid off and I would really like it to last as long as possible.

gabzor

sweet so it looks like i don't need a pcv valve gasket, it has a metal valve, so i'll order one for the 4ES and call it done..


found the fuel filter, it has some rust on it, and it seems to be done almost 10 years ago at a dealer.. lmao thats going to be alot of fun with my sausage fingers.. I thought the 2ES was hard, but oh man..

Othic

That thing circled is the VSV for the charcoal canister

808mcv20l

As far as I know, the 99-01 has individual coilpacks like you mentioned so there's no sparkplug wires like you guessed.

on the 97-98 and my 99 Camry there were 3 coilpacks in the front and a set of sparkwires that lead to the back 3. Those rear 3 sparkplugs are a real pain to remove without taking off the intake manifold. I've done it both ways, on my sisters 98 cramping my hands in there to take it off.

on the 99 I've changed them when I changed out the valve cover gaskets so they were super easy.

If you need have the rear valve cover gasket leak (aka burning smell) I'd wait to change the plugs then.

I replaced both the pcv valve and grommet on the 98 and 99, just be careful not to let the small pieces that break off fall into the hole. Both of those cars had the original Black oem plastic PCV valve, which I replaced with new oem Red plastic ones from Toyota.

I thought the fuel filter was in the tank along with the pump??? I couldn't tell if there was an inline one in the engine bay like most other cars have. If you find it I'd love to know.

gabzor

Thanks, good to know, the vacuum sensor components seem to be a bit different from the 2ES, but not that big of a difference so all good..


I have removed the intake manifold plenty of times on my 2ES so I'm kind of used to it now TBH, but still a pain either way, esp the intake mani brackets and the egr tube, although it seems to be a little different in the 3ES with the VVTI, also removed one from an 4ES with the 3mzfe, was a bit easier to work on than the 1mzfe IMO

Next time I'm in there, I should change the bypass hose and look at the knock sensors..

Hmm both my ES's have coil packs all around (95 and 2001) but the wiring harness seems new, so maybe they sold just the wiring with coil pack clips? I have changed just the clips on the 95, and got most of the coil packs from the junkyard, no problems

My car seems to have updated valve covers with the metal pcv valve, so it should be easier, and there is a screen filter by the pump (you almost never service this) but there is a serviceable fuel filter right underneath the brake booster, i'll snap a pic if you need.. just need 2 wrenches for it on the bottom, and on top, it uses some weird plastic thing, a bit different from the 2ES.. whereas the 2es fuel filter was visible right by the intake piping near the battery , and was the traditional style fuel filter, with a banjo bolt


So today at school, the lighting was just right and the car just looked great, so I snapped a quick pic




I've had a weird issue where the self leveling would not work at all, but no warning would come on.. so i took the whole thing apart and cleaned it up, works great now.. not much of a difference in lighting, but still makes me smile to see the lights going up and down when they turn on


here is the adjuster **** thing, it was a bit crooked, as the bushings are worn, but also cleaning up the springs and stuff helped..

The lights are still a bit low, if I make the vertical adjuster a bit higher, will it give me issues with the self leveling?


Also, while i was down there, checked under for leaks and such, seems like I have a small leak developing for the PS system..



Not sure if its the pump, or just those 2 hoses.. anyone know where to get those hoses, and reservoir return hoses for a better prices than the stealership? The hose prices are a bit ridiculous
also should I upgrade the clamps too while I'm at it? those OEM clamps kind of suck!


Here was the condition of the rear shock/strut boot :/

looks like it needs tires. shocks/struts all around, and lower control arm bushings/ball joints/tie rods..
not gonna be cheap, I might as well do an axle (since the boot is starting to dry rot) and maybe the whole LCA too..

the tranny pan, diff, and oil pan were soaked with oil, cleaned it up and I'll see if its leaking or not, might just be residue


so all in all, looks like I'm gonna spend more than I thought I was going to spend, I should have done a more through test drive/PPI, but oh well..


Sorry for the long post again :/.. I just go on and on once I'm started

JetsonES

That's a really nice shot of the car. Perfect lighting, do any post processing on that or did it just come out that way?

gabzor

I did do a little post processing, I did hit the contrast filter, since I did take a picture with a blackberry,
here is the original


still perfect lighting IMO

808mcv20l

For the powersteering,

Common leak spots are the high pressure hose, behind the intake manifold where the metal line is crimped onto the rubber, there is this coiled plastic loom. I had to remove the loom on both my 99 and the 98, while the car was running I got a super bright flashlight and had someone turn the wheels. I could see it oozing out of the cracks.

I replaced the high pressure hoses on both cars with Edelmann ones from Amazon at 70 bucks a piece, they are 300-400 at the dealer. The aftermarket ones come with 2 copper washers you can buy the oem one that has the washers joined to make it easier on yourself. Also you need to remove the oem brackets and rubber inserts from the original lines as the aftermarket ones don't have them, A Flat head screwdriver and hammer did the job.

I replaced the pump on the 98 due to my sister running the original one without fluid for a while and I resealed the pump on the 99. The OEM gasket kit was around 25 bucks from an online dealer.

The reservoir hose was hella expensive but there was no aftermarket substitute I could find with the proper bends. Paid around 100 bucks w/ discount.

The smaller rubber hoses like the one that goes from the reservoir return to the metal line and the one that runs along the lower frame that joints two metal lines I replaced by getting some "fuel line" hose from my local "Oreillys" There is 1 more rubber hose runs behind the front bumper I did not replace that as it was in a hard to get to spot and wasn't leaking.

I replaced all oem clamps with stainless screw type ones from Homedepot hehe.

gabzor

Every 1/3mzfe motor I've seen seems to be leaking power steering lol I want to take care of it before it gets crazy like my 2ES, where literally EVERY hose related to PS leaks.

thanks for the info on the hoses, was sealing a pump hard?

I've heard eddleman/gates power steering hoses leak, but its good to know you've had good luck, I've used it once on an acura TL, it formed microbubbles and made whirling noises, but it might also be because my idiot boss said don't worry about the bubbles, and just drive the car cause the bubbles will work itself out of the system eventually